


the neighborly thing to do

by rcmsw



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Neighbors AU, drunk jyn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-30 03:39:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10868298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rcmsw/pseuds/rcmsw
Summary: Cassian learns the benefits of getting to know his neighbors.Written for rebelcaptain prompts - Distraction.





	the neighborly thing to do

Cassian wasn’t the type to get to know his neighbors. That’s not to say he was impolite. He’d nod in the courtyard and lend people sugar and sign for a package if need be. Other than that, he didn’t feel the need to befriend any of these people. 

Until he sees the new girl moving into 102, right next door to him. 

He’s immediately distracted from the work in his hand.

It’s not just that she’s cute. (She’s definitely cute.) There’s just something about her that pulls at him. Maybe it’s the combat boots or the “rebel” shirt. Maybe it’s her bright green eyes, or the fact that she’s moving in completely on her own. Either way, he feels the need to offer to help.

“I can manage just fine on my own,” she huffs at him, after he finally gets her attention.

“I don't doubt that,” he says. He just watched her move an oversized chair by herself. “But I figured it’d save your time, and back, if I helped out.”

She seems to consider it for a moment, eyes narrowing at him before looking back at the couch that still needs to be moved in. 

“Isn’t it the neighborly thing to do,” he adds. 

“I wouldn’t know,” she scoffs. 

He smiles at that, a genuine one now, instead of the polite look he’d previously given her. 

“Alright, alright,” the corners of her own lips tug slightly now as she looks up at him, seemingly having made the decision to trust him and his intentions. “If you really want to move all my heavy stuff, I guess I’ll let you.” 

“You’re too kind,” he responds back, and realizes he’s being awfully friendly. 

They manage to move all her stuff into the new place, chatting as they go. Nothing too serious, mainly work and the best places to eat around the neighborhood. 

She offers to buy him pizza, but he waves it off, worried about overstaying his welcome. It’s hard though, to pull himself away. 

When he gets home, he convinces himself to leave it at that. His work is his life, his longest relationship has been with his partner Kay. He doesn’t have time for distractions like stubborn women with sparkly eyes. 

And yet he finds himself continually distracted by her. 

Cassian’s making a late dinner one night, floating around the kitchen, when he hears music start to play in her apartment. Through the wall they share, he can hear her sing along to it. Her voice isn’t anything to gasp at, but it’s soft and lilting in a way that draws him in. As the night goes on, the music ranges from everything from classics to pop, and all the while her velvety voice sings along. 

 

She doesn’t get a lot of visitors, but she does have the same three people stop by a lot. There’s the young guy with wide bright eyes who chastises her for moving in on her own.

“I would have helped if you had told me,” he complains.

“I had it under control,” she mutters at him.

Whenever he comes, he typically lets himself in, or drags her out for the day or night. So far, Cassian’s managed to convince himself that he’s just a good friend. He’s not sure why he feels the need to do that. 

Then there’s the middle-aged couple who always seem to come bearing food or household gifts. She needs them, Cassian knows, based on what he helped her move. He bumps into them all one day as he’s heading out to the store. The smaller one turns to him.

“Introduce us to your friend,” he tells Jyn, eyes somehow never leaving Cassian’s face.

“Oh, this is Cassian,” she says as she comes up the walkway. “Cassian, this is Chirrut and Baze.” 

“Nice to meet you,” Cassian responds politely.

“I look forward to getting to know you better, officer,” Chirrut grins at him in a way that makes Cassian feel he knows something no one else does. He smiles to himself as he leaves, realizing Jyn must have told them about him. 

 

They seem to order take out on many of the same nights, though Kay would state the odds of that are high considering how often Jyn seems to order in. 

“Great minds think alike?” he asks her as they meet up to let their respective deliveries in at the gate. 

She laughs, a light sound that carries through the courtyard, and he’s pretty sure it’s only half pity. 

She hesitates when they make it back to their doors, and turns to him. For a moment, he thinks she’s going to ask him to join her. Instead, she sighs.

“Enjoy,” she murmurs, before slipping back into her apartment. 

 

Her work seems to keep her as busy as he is. She’s a reporter with one of the main papers in the city, heading up an investigative team. Often when he’s up late going over a case, he can hear the clicking of her keyboard and the occasional whir of her coffee maker. 

Their hours coincide, both leaving early and coming home late. More often than not, he finds himself walking alongside her as they head out for the day, or meeting up in front of the building as they come home at night. It’s never intentional of course. He never speeds up his routine when he hears her moving towards the door, or takes his time when he can’t hear any movement on her side. 

She, of course, never does the same.

They make faces at each other when it happens, small light laughs as if to say, again, who would have thought? 

He walks her to the corner, where they part ways. 

“Have a good day, Jyn,” he tells her. See you tonight?, he wants to ask. 

 

One night, he’s coming back from a celebratory drink with Kay, just shy of tipsy, when he hears her voice carrying from down the street.

He turns from unlocking his door and sees her riding on the back of the young man, Bodhi he thinks his name is. When she sees him, her face lights up and something squeezes in his chest. 

“Cassian,” she shouts, too loud, and he can tell they’ve been celebrating even more than he has. Her cheeks are bright red and she has a flat-out goofy grin plastered on her face. 

“It’s so good to see you,” she exclaims, leaning further over Bodhi’s shoulders as they approach him. 

“Is it?” he asks, genuinely curious, and he swears her blush deepens across her face and neck. 

“It’s good to see you too,” he adds. Her ride quirks his eyebrows up at that, surprise on his face. Something in Cassian’s head finally puts together the situation, the fact that the headstrong woman who took convincing to let him help her lift a sofa is being willingly carried, and he realizes this Bodhi is probably more than a friend. 

“How’s it going?” he asks Bodhi. The friendly look quickly returns to the man’s face. 

“I had to carry her because she is slightly more intoxicated than I am,” Bodhi slurs, because being less drunk than Jyn doesn’t mean sober. “To be fair, she had probably three times what I did.”

“Really?” Cassian asks, unable to stop himself from grinning up at Jyn. 

“He’s a lightweight,” Jyn explains fondly, smiling so hard at the man who carries her that her cheeks squish up. Cassian’s own smile falls from his face. 

“And she got into a drinking contest with a guy who had at least 200 pounds on her,” Bodhi beams, apparently proud of this feat. 

“I won!” she exclaims, letting go of her grip around Bodhi’s neck to throw her arms out in victory.   
Just as she does this, Bodhi, ever polite, realizes he hasn’t introduced himself to Cassian. 

He sticks his arm out for a handshake, letting go of Jyn as he does so. 

“I’m Bodhi by the way, Jyn’s b-” he starts to say, but Cassian is immediately distracted by Jyn’s squeal. 

With only one very drunken left hand supporting her, Jyn quickly finds herself smacking face first into the concrete. 

For his part, Cassian had moved to catch her, but he just wasn’t fast enough. He’s pulling her upright almost as soon as she’s hit the ground. 

“Bodhi you asshole, you dropped me,” she groans but the corner of her lips are somehow still turned up on her face.

“You let go,” he responds, but his face is drawn down in guilt. “Shit, Jyn, I’m sorry.” 

“‘S fine,” she insists, getting to her feet, but she’s shaky and Cassian’s brow immediately draws in concern.

“Come in here,” he tells her, leading her by her arm to his apartment. “Let me check you out.” 

He sets her gently down on his couch, and gets down on one knee in front of her to perform the concussion test he knows from his days on patrol. Her inebriated state slows her down, but as far as he can tell she doesn’t have any serious damage. 

“You should be ok,” he tells her, hearing the own relief in his voice. 

“Thanks doctor,” she responds, eyebrows lifting up as she sasses him.

“But you should get some sleep, and drink a lot of water,” he responds, trying to save her from a hangover.

“Aye, aye Captain,” she pats him on the shoulder, and her hand lingers. He gazes up at her as she tilts her head down to him. They’re only a few inches apart and it would be so easy to…

Behind him, Bodhi clears his throat. Cassian stiffens, and Jyn laughs out loud.

“Alright, sleep,” she agrees, standing up. “For both of us,” she adds, pointing a finger at Bodhi. Cassian watches them walk out, and hears them both enter her apartment next door. And that’s that, he thinks. 

Cassian wakes up the next morning from a restless sleep and decides, not for the first time, that he is no longer going to be distracted by Jyn Erso. He takes a deep breath, ready to clear his mind, when the sound of a jackhammer rips through the air. 

He steps out into the too-bright sunshine to see construction crews on the street in front of the building. 

Well this is great, Cassian thinks, and then the sound of a door opening behind him adds sincerity to the thought. 

He hears her before he sees her. Of course he doesn’t have to turn around to know it’s her, the language gives her away. 

“What the fuck,” Jyn groans, stepping out of her door in pajama shorts and an oversized sweatshirt. She’s pale and is gripping both sides of her forehead like her head might actually fall off if she lets go. Cassian can’t help but laugh at her reaction, his own irritation starting to fade as she steps toward him. 

“Why are they doing construction at such an ungodly hour,” she mumbles. 

“Well I mean it’s 8, not 4, but it does seem a little unnecessary for a Saturday,” he responds.  
She glares up at him, bumping her hip against his. 

“Ok, ok, it’s an ungodly hour,” he concedes, hands raised in surrender as one corner of his lips tugs up. Get yourself together man, he tells himself. She has a boyfriend. 

“You’re a cop, can’t you go flash your badge and make them stop?” she asks, practically pleads. 

“I think that’d be an abuse of power,” he quips. “But I can call the city and complain.”

“Oh, my hero,” she mutters, releasing her hands from her head to clasp them against her chest in a mock swoon. 

If he didn’t know better, he’d think she was flirting. It’s snarky, sure, but in the short time she’s lived here he’s learned everything she says no matter how sincere involves at least a hint of snark. 

“Since we’re up, want some coffee?” he asks her, because he has no restraint.

“More than anything in the world,” she sighs up at him.

He returns with two mugs, full to the brim.

“Ah now truly, my hero,” she says, beaming. 

She was definitely flirting. Cassian cleared his throat, uncomfortable with the idea of flirting with Jyn while her boyfriend slept on the other side of the door. But it was difficult to keep from reciprocating because well, it was her. 

“This didn’t wake up Bodhi?” he asks, hoping bringing his name up would change the tone. He seemed like a nice guy, and Cassian is trying to be honorable, or whatever.

“Oh God no, he can sleep through anything,” Jyn rolls her eyes, but smiles fondly. “One time when we were kids our parents took us on a trip to California and I kid you not, he slept through a freaking earthquake.” 

She’s laughing now, and Cassian joins her easily. Our parents. So Bodhi was her brother then. That made sense with everything he’d seen. Her brother, not her boyfriend, which means…

She smiles up at him again, staring at him through her lashes. She was definitely still flirting. And now Cassian joined in as well. 

“You know, I’d like to do this for real,” he says. Her brow draws in confusion, so he clarifies. “Coffee. That I haven’t made. Someplace without the pounding of construction. We could even do food if you wanted.”

“Food is good,” Jyn grins up at him. 

“It’s a date then,” he decides, the words bringing a smile to his own face. 

“It’s a date,” she agrees. And because she’s constantly surprising him, she doesn’t wait for the date to lean forward, place her hand on his chest and press her lips to his. Her mouth is warm and she tastes of coffee and mint toothpaste, and he wonders if she had expected to find him out here. Then she presses herself closer to him and there are no more thoughts to distract him.


End file.
